3 keys to better employee engagement

It’s a fact of business life that if winning in the marketplace means first winning in the workplace. Compelling evidence shows employee engagement contributes to customer loyalty and, in turn, profitability. Yet, according to Towers Watson’s 2012 Global Workforce study, 25% of Canadian employees are disengaged.

Like climate change, the message on employee engagement is often seen as an inconvenient truth. The good news is there is concrete action employers can take to move the needle on employee engagement in their organizations.

Be specific
When communicating performance indicators to staff, be specific and provide concrete performance indicators. The problem with ambiguous defined goals is that, left unchecked, they can eat away at engagement and productivity. Instead, let employees know what is required for them to succeed, in terms that are specific and clear.

Clear requirements for so-called “soft” skills are also important. For example, the circumstances under which employees need to be proactive, how they’re expected to interact with team members, and how they are required to deal with customers, should be tangibly laid out to staff.

In addition, it’s crticial to tell employees how their success will be determined; for example, targets for business results or specific deliverables. The clearer the target, the easier it is for employees to know exactly where to aim.

Clear the path
Employees will experience nothing but frustration if their path to a certain goal is littered with obstacles beyond their control. Enable greater employee engagement means removing obstacles such as overlapping mandates, conflicting priorities and insufficient resources.

This isn’t to say that employee goals should be easy; ideally a goal’s purpose (outside of business objectives) is to provide the employee an opportunity to stretch and ultimately grow beyond his or her current capabilities. But the path must be cleared.

Good leaders are adept at assessing competency, removing obstacles and, in the best cases, providing motivation to help employees see that they can do more and do it better than they ever thought possible.

Make the work meaningful
In his book Pasionate and Profitable, Lior Arussy tells the story of Ayla Wendt, who tests the nibs on Mont Blanc fountain pens by writing the letter “L”, all day, every day of the week, and has done so for more than 20 years. It sounds incredibly mundane, but Ms. Wendt finds meaning and purpose in her work in knowing that many of the world’s leaders own Mont Blanc pens and sees her role as testing the pen that may sign the next peace treaty.

Employee engagement is highest when individuals can see how their work – even small role such as writing the letter “L” — is linked to a higher cause that they deem to be worthwhile, and of value.

Leaders who create a vision that is meaningful for employees are able to get at the heart of engagement; they enable their employees to feel they’re a part of something larger. Because when it comes to employee engagement, the context of the work is king.

Case in point: Apollo 13
The best example of the three aforementioned actions to improve employee engagement is from the Apollo 13 Lunar Mission that almost killed three American astronauts.

On April 14, 1970, an on-board explosion of an oxygen tank on Apollo 13 quickly depleted available oxygen and power supplies. The mission was aborted and the struggle began to get the astronauts home safely.

Action 1: A specific goal. The goal was to solve two problems: (1) to filter out almost-toxic levels of carbon monoxide to keep the astronauts alive, specifically finding a way to have square filters work in round receptacles, and (2) to find a way to restart the Odyssey module with insufficient power available. Only then could the astronauts re-enter the earth’s surface and come home.

Action 2: The path was cleared. The team of top NASA engineers, along with ground astronaut Ken Mattingly, were given a clear mandate, with no obstacles and full management support, to solve the two problems. Their path was clear.

Action 3: Their job was meaningful. In this case, the meaning of their task was crystal clear. Saving the lives of colleagues is about as meaningful as you can get.

Ginny Macdonald is the principal of Pointcross Consulting, focused on change management, strategy and customer experience. She was formerly a senior executive with CIBC and was president of their asset management company, responsible for over $45 billion in assets under management.